Information provided by Victoria Masterson, Senior Writer, World Economic Forum (WEF).
1. Cheetahs back in India after declared extinct since 1952.
Namibia in south-west Africa sent eight of its wild cats to India to kickstart a five-year restoration programme there.
The cheetahs will be based at Kuno-Palpur National Park in the state of Madhya Pradesh, which has the right climate and habitat for them.
India’s government said the return of the cheetah would have “important conservation ramifications” and help to stem biodiversity degradation and loss.
2. Wild bison return to the forest in Kent, in the UK, to help in the management of woodlands.
Kent Wildlife Trust, which runs the project, said the natural behaviour of bison, like grazing, eating bark, felling trees and dust bathing, can restore the biodiversity of a landscape by helping other species to thrive.
3. Vultures are back in Europe, after a disappearance of about 200 years, due to lack of food, habitat loss, persecution and poisoning, according to Rewilding Europe, a Netherlands-based organization, working to rewild landscapes across Europe.
4. The Eurasian Lynx, has returned to Central Europe after it was considered extinct for 200 years, because of hunting and habitat loss, Rewilding Europe said.
The lynx was reintroduced in Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria.
This work has been going on since the 1970s, and there are now between 9,000 and 10,000 Eurasian lynx in Europe.
5. Australia’s, an endangered mammal called the brush-tailed bettong, or woylie, was re-introduced after disappearing for more than 100 years ago.
The animals used to be found in more than 60% of Australia, but were “almost wiped out when cats and foxes were introduced by Europeans,” according to New Scientist.
Twelve male and 28 female woylies were re-introduced to mainland South Australia.
6. A type of weasel called the black-footed ferret was once considered the rarest mammal in the world, according to the National Parks Conservation Association in the United States.
The ferret was officially recognized as threatened in 1967 and was nearly wiped out in some parts of the US by human extermination of prairie dogs, the ferret’s main source of food.
By 1987, only 18 black-footed ferrets were thought to be left in the world.
These animals were put into a captive breeding programme and started to be re-introduced into US national parks in 1994 and 2007.
About 1,000 black-footed ferrets now live in the wild.
7. Red kites return to the UK
Red kites, large birds of prey, were driven to the brink of extinction in England by the end of the 19th century, because they were considered a threat to game birds and pets.
Red kites started breeding in the Chilterns, one of 38 protected ‘areas of natural beauty’ in England and Wales, in 1992, during a four-year reintroduction project, and there are now thought to be at least 1,000 breeding pairs in the area.
8. China’s wild horses are back from the brink. They are an endangered wild horse species called Przewalski’s horse.
The horses were once found throughout Europe and Asia, but can now only be found in reintroduction sites in Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in the US.
Picture: WEF